Your future clients are only a click away

April 7, 2017 by
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Justin is an attorney in Australia and a long-time subscriber and client of yours truly. In response to yesterday’s post (about doing less so you can do more of what’s important), Justin wrote:

Love this – so many blogs and “success” tips out there but I always read yours and delete virtually all the others.

You are spot on! Big fan of DW over here.

Thank you, Justin. Mission accomplished.

When it comes to legal marketing, I’m Justin’s “one and only”. He reads me and no one else. What does that mean? It means that when Justin needs help with marketing his practice, the odds are he’ll look to me.

Imagine that happening to you. Imagine that you are the only lawyer your subscribers read.

When they need legal help, do you think they’re going to go to a search engine, drag out the yellow pages, or rifle through a drawer looking for the business card of a lawyer they met at a party three years ago? Do you think they’ll ask their friends if they know a good lawyer who does what you do?

Or do you think they’ll simply check their email, find your number, and call?

How about referrals? If someone asks them if they know a lawyer who does what you do, who do you think they’ll recommend?

You. Because they know, like, and trust you. They may have never spoken to you but they have a relationship with you.

So, how do you get there? How do you become their one and only, or at least one of the few?

By delivering value. Helpful information, presented in an interesting and/or entertaining way.

And doing it frequently. Emailing often, keeping your name in front of them, reminding them about what you do and how you can help them.

The people on your email list are the future of your practice. You owe it to yourself to stay in touch with them and email is the simplest way to do that.

To learn how to do it, go here

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services, Newsletters Tagged With:

How do you know your email marketing is working? 

July 14, 2016 by
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You’ve started an email list or newsletter. How do you know your email marketing is working?

Well, you’re getting more clients. Year-to-year your numbers are growing. If you pay close attention, you realize that your growth is accompanied by less effort because frankly, writing emails is about as easy as marketing gets.

If you’re doing it right, you’re also hearing from subscribers who thank you for your emails. They like your tips and have benefited from them and shared them with others. They tell you that when your email arrives they read it first thing. They look forward to your emails because they know they contain valuable information, and even more, they are fun to read.

Note to self: make emails fun to read.

If you’re really doing it right, they tell you that you are the only lawyer they read, or that they only read a few lawyers’ emails and yours is definitely one of the few.

You also get questions they’d like you to answer. It’s called engagement. It’s also called giving people what they want, not what you think they want or need.

I know these things because I hear them from you. I appreciate your feedback and kind words. I also appreciate you for buying my products and hiring my services, and for sharing with me the results you are getting because of my advice. I also appreciate your telling other lawyers about me and my site.

All of these things come from or are greatly enhanced by my email marketing.

Now, how do you accomplish these things?

Frequency. Write as often as possible. Once a month is not often enough. Once a day isn’t too often.

Consistency. Whatever schedule you choose, stick to it.

Value. Give them information they can use. Tips, links, reviews, resources, ideas, examples, explanations, how-tos.

Entertainment. Make them smile, tell them stories that make them ask, “What happened next?”

Personal. Talk about the people in your life and the things that happen to them, and to you.

Relatable. Don’t talk about your BMW if your subscribers primarily drive Toyotas.

Original. Tell them things they don’t ordinarily hear from lawyers.

Surprising. Don’t be boring or predictable.

There, that’s not so difficult, is it? (See that, I asked you a question. That’s another thing you should do).

But don’t hide your wares. Don’t be shy about telling them to hire you or take the next step. Do it often. Every email isn’t too often.

They need to hear this. They expect it. And as long as you are also delivering value, they don’t mind it.

If you believe they need what you offer and will be better off by hiring you, you owe it to them to do whatever you can to help them get it. So tell them what to do, remind them why, and remind them what might happen if they don’t.

Your clients will be grateful that you helped them finally do what they knew they needed to do but didn’t. They’ll be glad they chose you because, through your emails, they believe they know, like, and trust you. They’ll be glad to know that if they don’t need you today, you’ll be there tomorrow when they do.

And you and your bankbook will be glad that they’re glad.

Email marketing will make your phone ring. Here’s how

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Filed Under: Email, Marketing legal services Tagged With:

The second best source of new clients

January 14, 2014 by
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According to a study of online marketing metrics, the best source of new clients (customers) is through generic search engine traffic. Nothing else comes close.

You probably knew that.

What you may find surprising is what’s number two. According to the study, it’s email, which is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter.

So, if you aren’t leveraging generic search engine traffic by creating and posting quality content online, you’re missing out big time. Prospective clients go to search engines looking for information about their legal situation, the available solutions, and for lawyers who can help them. Post information that answers their questions and provides those solutions and they will find you.

You don’t need to hire a team of experts. You don’t need to spend a lot of time. Once a week or so, write 300 to 500 words about something prospective clients want to know and might go looking for and post it.

Make sure you use keywords in the title and body of your post and follow a few other best practice to tell Uncle Google and his cousins what your post is about. Remember, search engines want to help their customers find what they’re looking for. Write and post that content and they’ll help you find prospective clients.

Now, not everyone who finds your website and reads your content is ready to hire you right away. In fact, you have to assume that most visitors to your website aren’t ready. In a few days or a few months, or perhaps a few years, when they are ready (or know someone who is), they probably won’t remember you. There’s a good chance they’ll wind up on some other lawyer’s website.

Unless. . . you stay in touch with them . . through email. . . the second best source of new clients online.

Your website needs to collect visitor’s email addresses. If it does not, you’re losing business. Probably a lot of business. Even if you practice in an area where most people make a hiring decision quickly like personal injury or criminal defense, because some clients wait and some clients are unhappy with the first attorney they hire.

Offer your visitors something free as an incentive to sign up for your email list. A report, checklist, form, or ebook. Add a form to your site to make it easy for them to opt in. Use an autoresponder to collect emails and automate much or all of the “staying in touch”.

Marketing online is not difficult and does not take a lot of time. Create search engine friendly content and build an email list. They are the number one and number two best source of new clients online so if you do it, you won’t have to do much of anything else.

Need help? Get my course on Internet marketing for attorneys.

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Filed Under: List building, Marketing legal services, Online Marketing, Web traffic Tagged With: , , , , ,

Email marketing for attorneys

June 6, 2013 by
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Yesterday, an email arrived in my inbox. See if you can tell what’s wrong with it:

–BEGIN EMAIL–
David,

First of all thanks you for subscribing over the years. I know
many of you have read my books or taken some of my courses
and I truly appreciate that.

The reason I have been so passionate in creating an online
business over the years is because it is the perfect way to
reach people worldwide and EXPRESS YOUR CREATIVITY.

I have tried the do this in my [Product names] . . . as well as my music.

——————————
QUICK NOTE:

Our once a year World Class [Product Name] Certification
Program starts next Monday June 10. Only a few spots left.

[Link to sign up]

——————————

THE SECRET OF LIFE

In my opinion it is doing what you love and sharing it
with others (and best of all make a living at it).

But rather than talk about it let me SING it to you
with some help from [Famous singer]…

[Youtube link of famous singer with writer of email]

In this You Tube channel you will see a part of me
many of you haven’t. In 1976 I got a Masters in
[Music degree, school]

. . .

–END EMAIL–

Okay, that’s enough. The rest of the email discusses his music and asks us to subscribe to his Youtube channel. He then mentions that he is working on another product and signs off.

So, what’s wrong with this email?

1. Who is this guy?

You can’t tell from the email itself but this is a list I signed up for a long time ago and I haven’t heard from this guy for at least six months. I don’t remember anything about him or what he does.

When people subscribe to your list, you have to write to them regularly or they forget who you are and that they signed up on your list. At best, they delete your email or unsubscribe. At worst, they flag your email as SPAM and now, when you do write to your list, your emails get filtered out and don’t get read.

You must write regularly, and frequently. You want to build a relationship with your readers, so that they know who you are and look forward to hearing from you. You don’t know when they will need to hire you, or know someone who does, and if you’re not in their mailboxes and their minds when that occurs, you’re not going to get the call.

2. “I know many of you have. . .”.

When you write to me, write to me. Don’t write in the collective. Say “you” not “many of you”.

Even if there are thousands of subscribers on your list, write your email as though it is a personal communication sent only to one reader. Me.

3. What’s in it for me?

When you write to me, tell me something that will make my life better. Give me something valuable–a tip, a link to something I can use in my business or personal life. There is nothing in this email that does that.

I’m blazing through my inbox, reading and saving a few emails that have something of value for me and deleting (and unsubscribing) everything else. If you want me to read your email, give me a reason. Give me a benefit. Tell me what’s in it for me.

4. “I have been so passionate about. . .”.

Your readers may care about what you are passionate about, but only if they share that passion or they have a relationship with you. The rest of us don’t care. We have our own problems to solve and lives to lead. We’re busy. We don’t have time to look at what you’re doing and did I mention, we really don’t care?

Ironically, I do share his passion for expressing my creativity. I also like the music of the famous singer he refers to. But I didn’t go watch his videos because I can watch videos of the famous singer any time I want. I don’t care that years ago, this guy played with him. So what? Lots of people did. I don’t know them, either.

On the other hand, when you have a relationship with your subscribers, you can share with them something about you that has no direct benefit to them, and they will pay attention.

When you have a relationship with someone, they’ll read your emails, Like and Tweet your posts, send their friends to your website, and respond to your requests. When they need your help, they’ll hire you. When they have a referral, they’ll give it to you. And when you share a video of you playing with a famous musician, they’ll go watch, because they probably don’t have a relationship with anyone else who did that and it might be neat to go see someone they know in a video with someone famous.

Build your list. Build relationships with your list.

Email marketing for attorneys. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Communication, Copywriting, Email, List building, Marketing legal services, Newsletters, Online Marketing, Writing Tagged With: